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Monday, February 25, 2013

A Future Arrived by Phillip Rock

Morning, all! I'm a stop on the TLC tour for the final installment of Phillip Rock's Abingdon Pryory trilogy this morning.

When we last left the Grevilles and Abingdon behind in Circles of Time, it was Christmas of 1923. Now, as A Future Arrived begins, it's 1930. Anthony and Hanna Greville are now in their seventies and the Earl of Stanmore is sadly reminded that his youth is far behind him. Charles is now headmaster of Burgate House School. Martin's young brother in law Albert is just about ready to begin university, but reveals that he'd much rather follow Martin's lead and become a journalist himself. Meanwhile, the Wood-Lacy girls are all growing up as is Alexandra's son Colin. The story soon launches into WWII and the next generation become the focus of this final installment in the trilogy.

This has been something of a roller coaster of a read. I've become so invested in these characters and am very sorry to have to finally say goodbye to them all. I was concerned upon learning that the characters I'd come to know and love in the first two books took a bit of a back seat in this third release but actually the transition worked very well. Many of them are still readily present throughout the story (Martin for the most part, though Charles, William, the elder Grevilles, and even Fenton do make occasional appearances).

I rather enjoyed getting to know the younger characters better! And it made sense considering that by the time WWII rolls around these are the characters now experiencing the terrors and tragedies that Charles, Fenton, and Martin experienced in The Passing Bells. Colin - Alexandra's son - has dreams of becoming a military pilot as does Derek Ramsey, one of Charles's students. Jennifer Wood-Lacy falls hard for Albert - Martin's brother in law. And We follow them all through their formative years and into the new war.

As with the first two, Rock's style is gripping and his pacing is phenomenal. It took me just one afternoon to get through this final installment. Granted I'd planned my weekend that way, saving up this last visit with Abingdon Pryory for a day when I could devote all my time and attention to it.

Any fan of historical fiction and epic family dramas will love this trilogy. I really cannot recommend it highly enough! Rock sadly passed away in 2004. The rest of his work is out of print. It does make me wonder what other gems are hiding in the depths of publishing past, not deemed to be literary enough to last through the generations. Again I am so glad that this particular trilogy has been rereleased today.

Be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here to see the rest of the stops on the tour for this book and the rest of the trilogy as well.